Recap
Vocabulary knowledge undergirds learning both in school and out. It plays a vital role both in learning to read and understanding what is read. If students don’t understand the meaning of words within a novel or other text, they’ll more than likely be unable to comprehend it. It is our goal, in this book, to provide you with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to equip your students with the vocabulary they need to be successful in school and life.
Read. Think. Engage. We invite you to begin a conversation with us on social media. We always enjoy talking, tweeting, and learning with educators and literacy leaders about how to best address challenges, celebrate accomplishments, and take purposeful next steps toward literacy improvement.
NEXT STEPS
Consider the following questions individually or discuss them with colleagues or in literacy leadership team settings.
Teachers
• Do you see a large vocabulary gap among your students? What are practical steps you can take to begin addressing this gap?
• How does understanding how young children develop vocabulary impact instruction in your classroom or school? How does it impact what you share with parents?
• How would you describe the relationship between vocabulary and comprehension to a colleague? To your students?
Literacy Leadership Teams
• Think about your teaching staff. How familiar do you think your staff members are with the information we shared in this chapter?
• Discuss the vocabulary gap. Does it hold specific relevance for your student population? If so, what explicit steps can you take to address the gap? How can you support staff in doing so?
• Discuss how the staff can make certain that students who enter the school deficient in vocabulary will increase their word knowledge.
• As a team, discuss top takeaways related to the importance of vocabulary instruction. Determine big ideas that you will share with all instructional staff, including paraprofessionals and interventionists.
CHAPTER 1
A Culture of Word Learning
It seems natural to want to begin the process of fostering schoolwide vocabulary learning by digging right in and building a repertoire of effective instructional strategies. And as much as we love seeing teachers embrace research-based vocabulary strategies and integrate them into their daily instruction, the longer we work with teachers, the more we see that we need to first take a step back. Perhaps even more important than the beginning of the work around vocabulary strategies is to first create a culture of word learning—one in which everyone constantly becomes more literate. We concur with leading researchers who point to the importance of creating a schoolwide culture that supports and encourages students’ ongoing learning of new words (Blachowicz et al., 2006).
While the task of addressing students’ deficient vocabulary can seem overwhelming—especially in high-poverty schools—creating a culture that supports building vocabulary is a viable way to address the challenge because that’s where the power of word learning begins. We’ve found that when teachers and leaders take the time to build the culture first and work together to create an environment that supports developing a diverse vocabulary, it sets the stage for word learning to occur throughout the entire day in every classroom. In short, vocabulary instruction becomes part of the core instruction in every subject—not just English language arts—and for every student. In this chapter, we’ll examine how to develop a word-learning culture, avoid pitfalls, establish collaborative teams, address resistance to change, and select digital tools to help support collaboration and continual professional development. We’ll also describe school and district literacy leadership team exemplars. In the long term, we believe that a thoughtful and diverse literacy leadership team provides the necessary foundation for creating, supporting, and sustaining a culture of word learning that will make a positive difference in the lives of your students.
Avoiding Pitfalls
Schools that enthusiastically embrace vocabulary and literacy development have typically grappled with sagging student achievement for some time. They often have a clear idea of literacy strengths and gaps based on collecting and reviewing achievement data. By targeting defined areas for improvement, they have a road map to follow. Leaders are eager to begin tackling their short- and long-term goals. However, in our work with principals and teachers, we have found that enthusiasm for word learning can sometimes actually get in the way of moving forward.
The scenario might look something like this. A principal talks with a few key teachers, makes a general announcement at the staff meeting about the new literacy initiative, and schedules several targeted professional development days focused on building a repertoire of instructional vocabulary strategies. Though well intentioned, the principal in this scenario sets up a schoolwide vocabulary initiative to become just another initiative. Invariably, some teachers will wait it out and count on the enthusiasm and the initiative to disappear eventually. Resistance has already begun. More important, with enough resisters, no real change will occur.
Why does this approach fail? Because it treats a literacy improvement initiative as if it’s a procedural or structural change such as changing the bell times or bus schedule rather than a cultural change. Cultural changes are about transforming ways of thinking and doing. In contrast to simple procedural changes, cultural changes often meet with more resistance. However, recognizing and working toward developing a culture that supports word learning across classrooms will, in the long term, provide for continual and sustainable integration to support curricula and standards.
Developing a Literacy Leadership Team
Establishing a literacy leadership team helps ensure a strong start to provide the support teachers will need. Intentionality and planning will make a difference in whether the implementation plan will take hold and create the change necessary to reach long-term goals that result in improved student achievement. Therefore, a literacy leadership team that includes respected and influential teachers is critical.
While there is no one model of a literacy leadership team, we think that it should comprise a diverse group that includes teacher leaders from varied grade levels and content areas, an instructional or literacy coach, special education and EL teachers, a media specialist, a community outreach liaison, and a lead learner or administrator. Teams may be established in several ways. For example, team members may come from an existing school improvement team, or they may be members of a literacy or curriculum team. Establishing the team largely depends on the makeup of the school and how those groups are determined. In all cases, a diverse and inclusive team provides multiple perspectives and insights that range from how to best support teachers to reaching out to parents and community members who can also participate in the word-learning effort. As we see it, the primary purpose for the team is to communicate with, represent, and support teachers in their professional learning. The International Literacy Association’s (n.d.) Standards for Reading Professionals provides additional information for those who wish to further define the roles and responsibilities of team members.
Regardless of a team’s makeup, it is very important that members have a foundational knowledge of direct and indirect strategies for teaching vocabulary. Direct (or explicit) strategies include intentional word-learning opportunities, and indirect strategies refer to incidental word learning that can occur independently in a literacy-rich and word-conscious environment. Teachers can review and practice with integrated digital tools, apps, and games. These two main categories are a great place to begin when laying the foundation for vocabulary instruction across classrooms, so it is essential that all members